Do you want to live in the woods for a month? Here’s your chance…

7th Rise autumn and winter woodland experiences 2013/14

Be honest… are you looking for an adventure? Do you want a real challenge? Do you fancy living life a bit differently? Could you do with some space, or a slower pace of life? Then this is for you!

Throughout the autumn and winter months of November, December, January, February and March, we, at 7^th Rise are offering you the exclusive chance to come and experience the magic of the cottage, and genuinely live an isolated, woodland lifestyle for two or four weeks.

Founded by me, Thom Hunt,  the Uk’s leading wild food expert and star of Channel 4’s ‘3 Hungry Boys’, at 7^th Rise I, along with my team, run inspiring and unusual woodland adventure courses during the summer months, but as the evenings draw shorter the experiences get longer. Here we offer a challenging but unique immersive experience in this magical, hidden world.

Our perfect little woodland cottage is a simple and traditional Cornish two-up, two-down, hand-built stone dwelling, hidden in amongst 20 acres of ancient Cornish oak woodland. It’s incredibly isolated and peaceful and is set high up on the banks of the tidal River Fal, with easy access to the water.

A true hideaway, our basic but loveable cottage (dated approximately 300 years old) has electricity but no hot running water or central heating. Water is diverted from the nearby stream for washing and supplying the flushing toilets, but drinking water must be collected from mains feed (by boat or 40 mins walk away through the woods) every few days. We have a shower block, the water for which must be heated over the fire. We have a toasty wood burning stove in the kitchen, electric heaters in the bedrooms and plenty of warm woollen blankets to keep those crisp winter chills at bay. The beds are basic but comfortable, and the views you wake up to are simply stunning. They truly are like no other.

In the grounds we have a vegetable patch, a chicken coop, our peaceful and relaxing hammock village and some of the best woodland walks and views in Cornwall.

Our two and four week getaways are the perfect opportunity to come and live the simple life, for real. Here you will have the chance to read and enjoy the books you’ve not had the chance to read, cook outdoors and try new recipes and cooking techniques, catch a fish from the river for your supper or get creative – write, paint or draw. The peace and quiet we boast at 7^th Rise is beyond your imagination.

Due to the isolated and natural setting, we have a number of ‘friends’ who drop by, such as our resident pair of mating swans, Boris and Doris who can be fed by hand by the brave. We also have many roe deer living in the woods, robins a plenty, shrew, badgers, wagtails, herons and much more! Sometime we even spot seals.

This opportunity is less of an ‘experience’, and more a chance to come and really live remotely, disconnected from the speedy pace of civilisation. We are offering you three things rarely found in the modern world: freedom, space and time.

Some people come to us seeking freedom, freedom to think, write, read, paint or knit (!), others want to challenge themselves with a different way of living, something which is out of their comfort zone. A few want to learn or build upon their outdoor skills and some people just want to escape their lives or the city! Whatever your reason for wanting to come, you are more than welcome.

Personally, I live here at the cottage with my springer spaniel pup Digger, and you are welcome to join us in any of the tasks or activities we get up to on a regular basis. My current projects include building a tree house, tending to the vegetable patch and building an outdoor organic steam room. My weekly activities include fishing, traditional cooking, wood collecting/chopping, swimming, and reading to name but a few. But you are welcome to do as you please. If you want to stay in bed all day for the first week, please do! There is only one rule to abide by and that is… respect the cottage and the people she is looking after.

There are very few places that offer such freedom and time as here, and the cottage has a track record for inspiring people to go on do great things. Many fall in love with the place and most come back! This ongoing community being built here can be seen everywhere. People love to leave their mark, and we have an amazing, eclectic mix of photo’s, quotes and ornaments in our cosy cottage. These items add to our friendly, homely feel – we’d love you to be part of it.

So if you’ve ever wanted to live a little differently, get some perspective, step up to the challenge, or need some space in your life to re-evaluate, maybe this unique opportunity is for you. There is no other opportunity available like this anywhere else in this country.

Two week stays are priced at £499.00 per person

Four week stayed are priced at £899.00 per person

The prices listed cover your accommodation, food and use of the 7^th Rise grounds and equipment for activities.

Please note: our summer courses accommodate groups of up to 12 people, but we limit autumn/ winter stays to a maximum of five people to ensure the quality of the experience.

Myself and Digger (our Springer Spaniel puppy) live at the cottage, but occasionally I do work away and travel. Please be aware that you may be at cottage, on your own for short periods of time. The food supplied is wholesome and in the majority – local. We use local bakers, butchers, hunters and greengrocers and stick to the mantra…If we can’t buy Cornish, we buy British, if we can’t buy British we don’t buy at all. All diets, allergies and preferences can be catered for and are understood through the booking process.

If you’re in any doubt whether this trip is for you, here’s what one of our cast aways from 2012 had to say about her experience:

“I thought about what it would be like in 20 years or so, would I look back and have an unusual story to tell my young family of how I lived in the woods for a month, or wold I have just carried on doing what I’ve always done? That sealed it for me  and I thought ‘let’s go for it, let’d do something different – now is the time'”

For more info and pictures visit www.7thrise.co.uk / @7th_Rise or 7thRiseCornwall via Instagram

For bookings, please email bookings@7thrise.co.uk

Time…

Time.

How a ‘point of view’ can change your whole life. Context, so to speak.

Time. What is time?

What does it mean to you? You own it, it is yours, currently.

So what would the answer be if I asked if I asked you the question ‘What do you think it would feel like to not own time any more? Not that, you own it but have no control. But that you just don’t own it any more. That it is not your possession any longer.

Time is therefore opportunity. To have time is to have opportunity. Surely, as those that have had their time cut too short, would no doubt say we are reckless with what time we each have left.

It’s a tick, tock, tick, tock…. it has motion, it has sound, it has relentlessness and because of all of these it has energy. Inherent energy. As long as it is going it is alive. Like it is its own entity. It has watched everything with its silent eyes since the start. It hasn’t said a single word, but it hasn’t missed a single thing. It’s seen it all. The planets change, the universe expand. Things come. Things go. But me? I just dipped in for a little while. Time existed long before I did, and long after I am gone. But while I am here.

This is my time. My precious possession, I own it.

So time to do what? Well if I lived to be 500 years old, surely the answer to that would be ‘just about anything I feel like!’…. but I don’t, I am time limited, while I’m here, is the only time I got. So I know it is precious, I know it is finite, I know it runs out…. for me anyway. And most of all, I can only have it one second at a time. I can’t store it up for a rainy day. I can’t spend more of it one day and less the next. The only fragile connection I get with it is one sole moment in each realisation of ‘now’, I am bound by it’s timekeeping.

I can’t change it, I can’t alter it, slow it down, speed it up, reverse or twist it. The only chance I got is to use it when each second comes. Now, no now, no now! And one moment, it won’t come. For me anyway. In itself time will still carry on, relentlessly for all those folks who still own their moments, still possess their life, their existence…. but for me, it will have passed me by, diverted away from my grasp, changed courses so that we are not together any longer.

Gone forever. For all eternity. And with it, my opportunity. My opportunity has gone.

What will I think then?

Will I mourn the relationship I had?

Like a partner who never said I love you.

To pathetically call, “come back, be mine again, I miss you, I love you….” but time will have gone, the chance passed, never to return. Slipped through your fingers for ever.

Would this relationship you now know to have with time, change your behaviour? So you’ve checked yourself, yep, you’re alive and you’ve got your time. And you get to choose, what will you do with it? Almost infinite choice. You can pick anything. Anything that you would like to. Anything you can think of. No one’s going to stop you. You got your time and that’s all you need…..

‘Time’ by Thom Hunt 13/05/13

 

So What Is this 7th Rise thing really all about?

‘Its a bit of a mission to get here’ is often the first sentence I’m greeted with by new guests arriving here in Cornwall.

I usually reply with ‘Yeah, that’s the point!’

 

Here at 7^th Rise we have created a new world, one that has its own rules and is isolated for a genuine ‘get away from it all’ weekend. This includes getting away from the technology that so often controls us, and our Digital Detox means that phones are banned and we have a growing collection of clocks that don’t work, in gesture towards the fact that time only exists when we choose it to.

 

So as you all arrive, and get checked in and receive the (yawn) Health and Safety talk, you slowly notice the quiet of this beautiful place, but have a burning excitement for what is to come. What is this secret place we are heading to all about?

Soon enough the boat arrives for our journey to a new world. Even the very first taste of 7^th Rise is authentic through and through….. a lovely old wooden hand built boats navigated by Rhos, a gentle, well spoken and knowledgeable Cornishman who has lived on the River all his life. He knows this place, like the back of his hand (and will tell stories and old smuggling legends to match).

 

Your window to the most authentic Cornish Woodland lifestyle has begun.

 

As you pull up to the quay, a realisation hits you. The deep satisfaction of being completely surrounded by exquisite Nature, the birds (we have Wagtails, Swans, Blue Tits and Robins seen often) the clean, clear River, the thick, untouched Forest and…. then….. you spot a Perfect little Lost Cottage through the Trees. As you walk up the slope to your new home, past the Art Sculptures, past the wood chopping area with axes waiting, past the fire pit and log store you are welcomed by the front door being open and the chimney puffing a little smoke. Like its been waiting just for you, for a long time….

 

Welcome to your new World. Welcome to your adventure. Welcome to the 7^th Rise.

 

As you enter the Cottage you will see her homely and adventurous character. Old movie posters, pots hanging from the ceiling, and the best book library you’ll ever see! There are poems, photo’s and random ornaments from each and every soul who has passed this through this place. We ask that every person leaves something that represents themselves. We are creating an ongoing time capsule of the history of the most important aspect about 7^th Rise, the people. We ask that you become part of that, in a way that you can define.

 

Your weekend will be a mixture of experiences, but the overriding value of your stay will be that of integrity. This place is real.

You have come here to taste the lifestyle, the authentic lifestyle, and we believe that dinner always tastes sweeter or the fire always burns warmer, when we have been part of creating it ourselves. We have spent a long, long time, trying different course formats and structures, and we have settled on the one that has, head and shoulders above the rest, created the best result. The best result in terms of satisfaction and enjoyment. The best result in fact, that over 60% of our ‘7^th Risers’ have already been back or are booked in again.

We love watching people really living it, really creating the satisfaction of achievement. This is not a place where it is all just laid on for you. It is a carefully formatted experience to deliver so much more than just a good time.

 

And that is why we describe it less as a ‘course’ (where you just arrive, have a nice time and then go home) and more of a way of life with values that seem to resonate deeply with those that come. Our owner and founder Thom, lives at the Cottage. This is not a business for him so that it can be successful for the sake of a income. It is a lifestyle, one that he has specifically chosen, committed to and one that he adores. It is for this reason, the authenticity, that it is the Uk’s number one Woodland Experience.

 

It is integrity in its highest form. It is the real thing.

 

An because it is the real thing, you will be offered the opportunity to get into real activities.

You will learn the ways of the plants that surround us, some we can eat and some we cant!

You will learn the hands on way to deal with Wild fish and meat, with knife skills and butchery just as the professionals do it. Its quite a fulfilling experience to take a whole fish, prepare it and then cook it for your lunch. It doesn’t get much fresher than that!

You will be asked to collect the veg, pull the carrots and potatoes from the ground, and guess what? They’re not there by magic… you’ll be asked to sow some seeds and pot some more for the future. There is just something truly pure about feeding our bodies with organic, fresh foods.

 

Surprise surprise! The fire does not light itself!

You will get involved to help gather wood, and learn the correct timbers to burn, and learn how to safely cut and axe so you have a camp fire that burns long and hot into the night.

And there is fun too.

Everyone is offered the chance to compete in our friendly target competition (though not too friendly!) Its a bit like the 7^th Rise version of the Top Gear ‘driver challenge lap’, with a similar score board to match. After a tutorial on gun use and safety, you have 5 shots to get your highest score (out of 50). The record is a mighty 41, by Alison in 2012 who had never shot before! Can you beat her score and win the secret prize?

And then there is our Canadian Canoe session, exploring the River Fal giving you the chance to meet our resident Seal, the otter that lives on the corner of the creek or spot the large Mullet and Bass that bask in the warm shallows. You’ll learn, among others, the ‘J’ stroke and the Hunters stroke (a silent stroke where the paddle never leaves the water) to successfully master the challenge of manoeuvring your boat.

 

And then……

 

Then will come the bit that many believe to be the best. The chance to do exactly as you please. You have complete freedom here.

Although the weekends have a structure to them, you have the liberty to get involved in as much or as little as you like anyway, but most people really enjoy all of the sessions but we also feel it to be hugely important to have your own ‘exploring’ time. Some like to string a hammock up and read a book, some like to wander the Woodland, paint, create Art…. some just like to get busy with our ongoing list of projects and some just like to sleep!

 Whatever you do, we hope that you explore your mind. Even the toilets have chalkboards with ‘This Week’s Riddle’ to ponder over!

You have the space, freedom and time here to get the cogs going, and we believe the key to creating a life of purpose, one we are proud of lays in this ability to think. To ask ourselves the questions we rarely get the chance to. You’ll be amazed at the answers just as much as we are amazed at what people have gone on to do after being inspired by the World we have created here, and our proudest possessions are the hand written letters sent to us with updates of how people are getting on. We stay in touch because we become friends.

 So there you have it, I hope I have given you a insight into what a beautiful place we have here, I hope you might think about gathering a group of your best friends and family to come and enjoy (with full attention) each others company, and I hope to see you soon.

 “it is an insanely beautiful World we live in, when we open our eyes”

 

Unconditional love, Always.

The 7^th Rise Team x

 

Where has all your adventure gone?

One of my greatest hero’s of all time is a crazy adventurous Norwegian chap called Thor Heyerdahl. He is most famous for sailing a balsa wood raft across the Pacific Ocean, in 1947, just to prove a point.

The Kon-tiki Expedition as it is known, represents, for me, one of the all-time greatest true adventures known to man.

 

Living on a Polyniesian Island for a year, he began to understand their history, religion, food and living habits and began to formulate a theory that these settlers had originated from South America. When he started to voice his ideas to fellow historians and anthropological experts, he was basically told that he was an idiot and that it would have been completely impossible for these people to have physically got to the Islands from the other side of the Pacific more than a 1,000 years ago.

 

The only way to prove his point? Build a balsa wood raft out of only materials that would have been available back then and sail it across the Pacific Ocean. He gathered a team of 5 equally idiotic Scandinavians to help him and Thor, Bengt, Knut, Eric, Torstein and Herman set sail from Peru, genuinely not knowing what the next few months held in store for them.

 

This adventure is not only superb in my opinion because of the excitement and tales of the entire story, but because of the risk involved in undertaking it in the first place, especially just to prove a point.

 

They had no Satellite Navigation, a radio that didn’t really work, no way of being rescued and most importantly, absolutely no idea if they were going to make it or not. Now that is TRUE ADVENTURE! Basically, if they didn’t make it, they would have all died.

 

History is littered with these men and women, willing to risk their lives in trying to achieve tasks or reach destinations that no other human has managed in the past. And I believe they were doing it for a damn fine reason.

My theory is that, despite most people believing that they are not of sound mind to risk their lives (we’ll cover this later) and attempt these things, our species has actually relied on these people that are willing to be adventurous.

The ‘reasonable’ man conforms to the world and ‘goes with the flow’. Fits into the system so to speak. The unreasonable or adventurous man questions things and attempts things that have never attempted before. Therefore, all progress relies on the unreasonable man. So the first question you have to ask yourself is, am I someone that fits into another’s system, or am I someone that has the ability to create progress of some sort in the world?

 

This leads me on to my current train of thought; What actually is ‘adventure’ any more? If we talk of adventure… exploration… risk, in terms of physical or spacial aspects then I believe there is very little the common man currently has opportunity in. We have mapped and visited a large proportion of our world and nothing short the deepest oceans or journey’s to other planets, adventures of the geographical nature has largely been covered.

Think its an adventure to climb Everest? Don’t be silly, it’s more of a surprise that there isn’t a Starbucks halfway up as the Chinese business men stop off for a Latte on their helicopter ride up to stand on the summit for 5 minutes. Scott would be turning in his icy grave.

 

No, I now believe the main opportunity we have for real adventure is that of exploring the depths of the mind. The unexplored corners and shadows of our personalities, ego’s, traits and decision making processes. Uncovering our ability to control, discover and process our capabilities, emotions, and potential.

We are a bunch of very complex beings, and mostly we are fairly good at ‘surviving’. Our average life expectancy is on the up, we have advances in medical sciences, we have advances in technologies to create better, cheaper and more sanitary housing systems, and we are learning more and becoming more successful in agricultural and sustainable food supplies.

So basically we can avoid disease, provide shelter and feed ourselves fairly well. Like I said, we’re pretty good at ‘surviving’.

 

What we aren’t so good at is excelling. Creating systems in our minds and our thoughts that can then manifest in reality to allow us to be totally and genuinely comfortable, at peace, have love, be fulfilled, be driven and be content. But how many people do you know that are genuinely like this? How many people do you know that are genuinely happy?

 

There is a huge scope for exploration in this subject.

 

I have asked many people from many walks of life and the answer is always the same. The question is a very simple one. Just 7 words. It seeks to explore the core essence of who a person is, how they want the world to view them and what their overall purpose is.

And most people initially just face me with the look of a lost and lonely vulnerable lamb left out in the cold, and say, ‘I don’t know’.

 

The Question is: “What do you want from your life?”

 

Eventually when we discuss it and the content based ‘stuff’ is removed (how you are going to get your happiness: sports, business, family, whatever), and EVERYONE says the same thing……

 

‘I just want to be happy’.

 

Happiness is quite a generic term but generally we are trying to explain positive emotions and out of these, for each individual, the list of what makes them happy is very personal. What is difficult to agree on is how to create happiness. ‘What system or strategy should I use?’ I hear them say.

Well, what makes one person happy may not make the next happy. Making huge achievements in business may create true happiness in one person, but just being content with what you got may make the next person ‘happy’. This may seem like a very simple concept that will make you think ‘that’s very basic, of course I know that’.

But if we can agree 2 constants, the first being we are all searching for the same thing but the second being that it is delivered by a way of means not dissimilar to our finger print, it is very individual and a) only the individual can truly assess whether they are genuinely happy or not, and more importantly, b) the best person qualified to work out the strategy that will provide that, can only be, by definition, that individual.

 

So, yes it may be a very basic concept, but YOUR happiness must lie totally in YOUR opinion, not in the opinion of others, or (worst of all) what you are guessing the opinion of others to be.

In short, how the hell can someone else, who does not know the intricacies of each and every one of your thoughts, and who has not been through and experienced EVERY SINGLE thing you have ever been through, know better than you? (for the best strategy for happiness success) You are the very best person qualified to make decisions for yourself, you have to be, because you’re the only one that really knows what you think!

 

The point is, if you exhibit genuine honesty with yourself and COMPLETELY remove the valuing of external opinions, YOU CANNOT BE WRONG. It is a fact! Because, by definition, you are the one that chose it, and we already know that you and only you can be the very best qualified person in the whole world for making that choice! YOU MUST BE RIGHT! THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO BE WRONG IS FOR YOU TO NOT CHOOSE YOUR STRATEGY!

 

This is just plain common sense, and an incredibly sound theory that most of us would agree on, but in reality (you know, the consciousness between sleeping when you do a load of regular boring shit and then complain about it.) how many of us actually run this strategy? To take our own advice more than that of others? To trust ourselves or be responsible enough to accept all the consequences of making our own decisions? To not worry about what people think of us?

 

The answer is very few of us do this, very little of the time. But we must remember that we always have the choice. The choice to either accept our own opinion, or that of others. This is something totally available to us at any given point of any moment.

From the many people I have studied and asked, I believe that people do not form their dreams, desires or wants in the minute you ask them, they simply uncover them. They already know.

So you already have the vision or the notion of what is your dream situation or best case scenario. Everyone does. Question is, why are you not there? Or even on the journey? Mostly, its because of the ‘can’ts’ and the can’ts are generally based round others opinions or perceptions of you. And the reason you are willing to do this is so that you have someone to blame if it all goes wrong. You do not want to take the responsibility of your own life for yourself because the problem lies in that you are terrified in making a change, or expending energy, time or money and being worse off than before. It’s better to stick with the safe option, it might not be great, but at least you know what it is. Well there you go, ‘it might not be great but’.

You are choosing this option, and until you are willing not to, you are only banking on one of two things. 1. An average amount happiness or 2. Nothing short of a miracle.

 

Sorry to bear the bad news.

 

So here’s the crunch. Go on an ADVENTURE. In your mind. EXPLORE your thoughts. Your dreams. What you believe you were put here for. Go to places you, or anyone for that matter, may never have been before. Take a RISK. TRUST yourself that you know the right answer (you do, you’re the only one that can) Stop being a pussy and thinking everyone else is more important than you. Stop being a pussy and crumbling under the pressure of fear that you place upon yourself when you worry what someone may think of you. (half the time they don’t really give a shit, they’re too busy trying to find their own elusive happiness). Grow up. TAKE responsibility for your choices and your life. You cannot rate safety over happiness and then wonder why life is average. You can’t make the weather then get upset when it rains.

Change is where your happiness lies. I can promise you. I know because I’ve done it, I took a leap of faith and the result is far greater than you can ever possibly imagine.

 

Or then again, stick with what your doing. Stay in the safety zone. Settle for average, cos that’s all you’re going to get.

Just whenever you get to the end of your life, your time and your opportunity at greatness has ceased, and you float up to the pearly gates of heaven… in order to let you in, God will ask you what you did with your one and only opportunity of life.

 

If you pathetically mutter that you couldn’t quite find the courage to have a great, inspiring, extraordinary life that you personally crafted and were proud of because you were a little bit scared that someone didn’t think you could and you thought they might be right, please don’t think that your opportunity is still available. Cos it ain’t. You’ll be dead. And God, or anyone else for that matter, will not care what your excuse is. You’ll have missed the best chance you ever had, you were just too dumb or too content with staying safe to realise that your happiness was staring you in the face all along. You’ll just have to spend the rest of forever trying your hardest to convince yourself that your pathetic excuse was a good enough one.

 

The choice is yours, because the result of greatness, or not, will be too.

 

It starts now.

 

Go.

 

We talk of living the dream, but how do we do it?

I used to work in the building trade. I used to go out on the town at the weekends getting blind drunk. I used to watch lots of TV. 

I used to think i enjoyed it. Until i asked myself a simple question. What does my dream life consist of? What things in my life did I enjoy the most? What did i want the purpose of my life to be? Cos i kinda figured, those things weren’t going to just happen. I had to go get them. Or at the very least, I had to do something towards getting them. Cos when i looked back, I realized I’d always had a dream life, just like everyone, but I’d never done a single thing towards it actually being anything more than a concept….

I wanted to win the lottery and I wasn’t even buying a ticket.

To cut a long story short. This year has seen me start a company that is what i can only describe as ‘Totally me’. Everything I represent in this world is somehow integrated into this concept. It is a mixture of Authentic, adventurous outdoor activities, enjoying great wild food and a chance to inspire and challenge yourself on many levels. It seems that when you totally align your identity and what you really want in this world, life turns into a piece of piss. It is soooo easy. You wake up looking forward to living how you want. Doing things because you genuinely want to. Sounds like a dream hey? Well yeah, that’s kinda my point.

I effectively just pulled it all out of thin air. Whatever I could come up with in my mind was the best place to start. And it was pure fun. Getting creative with how I wanted to express myself in the world, what I wanted to represent and then just had faith that at the end it would be worth something of value to someone and i could make a living out of it. Before it was even half done I had both the Guardian and the Sunday Times wanting to come down to check it out and the bookings were streaming in. I took a gamble and rolled a six.

All of this effectively creates a life that is extraordinary. By definition it is one I have chosen and crafted for myself. It contains huge amounts of bliss.

It is possible.

So what i really want is for your cogs to start turning. If you have a life that you genuinely love, then well done to you. But if you can conceive an idea of a better life, i’m simply going to ask you just one question.

Is the reason that you are NOT choosing to take steps towards a better life, really good enough? It better be if you are willing to to accept a poorer version of an existence because of it.

http://www.7thrise.co.uk 

Social media for the outdoors!

Trying to get my head round Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WordPress and a Website is pretty tough, when all you really want to do is be outdoors!

But alas, this blog is designed to give you a monthly update of what the Great British Outdoors has to offer from the Cornish corner of the globe. I hope you enjoy the window to my life x 

Everyone is welcome at 7th Rise.

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